Senate Republicans eye reconciliation to address Minnesota fraud scandal

Senate Republicans have been mulling whether to again use a powerful yet divisive legislative process, and tackling the unfolding Minnesota fraud scandal could be at the top of the list.

Congressional Republicans last year used the budget reconciliation process to ram through President Donald Trump's crowning legislative achievement of his term so far, his "one, big beautiful bill."

The GOP is considering taking another stab at the process, which would allow them to pass partisan legislation without Democratic votes in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that one option could be dealing with the alleged fraud in Minnesota.

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"I think that one of the issues that's been raised is this issue of waste, fraud and abuse coming out of the investigation in Minnesota, and whether there might be, you know, some bill that we could do that addresses that issue," Thune said when asked if Republicans would go through the reconciliation process once more.

"But I think there are, you know, a number of candidates for consideration," he continued. "I always think the best solution, if possible, is to try and do things through regular order."

The situation in Minnesota has become a hot topic on Capitol Hill since lawmakers returned for the new year and the start of a new legislative session this week.

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Federal prosecutors estimate that up to $9 billion in taxpayer money was stolen through a network of fraudulent fronts posing as daycare centers, food programs and health clinics, among others.

Reconciliation has been a powerful tool for either party that commands a majority in Congress - congressional Democrats used the process to pass former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act years ago.

But it's a time-consuming, labor-intensive process that laid bare intra-party divisions last year and nearly imploded before leaving the walls of Congress. Still, some Senate Republicans have been pounding the drum for another chance, particularly to tackle the growing affordability issue in the country.

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Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who acts as the de facto quarterback for the process, has signaled that he is ready to take another crack at reconciliation.

Thune didn't close the door on using the process but reiterated that if Congress wants to reopen that Pandora's box, they need to have a good reason to do it.

"I've always said that, if you're gonna do reconciliation, you really have to have a reason to do it, well," he said. "What is the 'it' that we're talking about here? And, you know, is it something that the House and the White House are all on board with doing?"